Advocates urge action on opioid epidemic

Wednesday

Oct 11, 2017 at 6:46 AM

Outside the Monroe County office building, advocates showed the faces of 169 who lost the battle to opioids. They came to the legislature to push for more money for drug prevention and treatment programs, calling it a pandemic.

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"169 residents of this county, we lost," says David Attridge, Recovery Now. "When is it going to stop? When are we going to do something?"

David Attridge is the executive director of Recovery Now New York. He's talking about the number of people who have died from an overdose.

Becky Baker, of S.O.A.R.S., lost a son to an overdose. "Monroe County, we are losing our kids. Look at the names on the flyers I gave you. We need detox beds."

Becky Baker's son was only 27 years old when an overdose claimed his life. Baker and Attridge came to the Monroe County Legislature to push for more money for drug prevention and treatment programs, calling it a pandemic.

Outside the county office building, they showed the faces of those 169 who lost the battle to opioids. "This should be something we're talking about every week, that we're hearing. What is going to happen and what action is being taken? That's what we're asking for -- action."

Monroe County does have a joint community health service plan that includes a task force and protocols in place at local hospitals. But to Carol Struble, who lost her son at 33 to an overdose, it's just not enough.

"I don't want another mother to lose a son or a daughter or any family member," she says. "It has to stop with the legislators."